Reborn in 1966

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Wounded

Grandma is going to make cotton clothes for the family these days. She'll take apart the old cotton clothes, wash them, and dry the cotton properly before making new ones. People in the village like to do needlework under the big locust tree. They chat idly as they work, sewing shoe soles and clothes, talking about this family and that family. It's quite lively.

Under the big locust tree was the center of gossip in the village. People would gossip about which couple was arguing, which mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were having a fight, or even which little baby had cried all night.

Grandma is a woman of few words. She brought Peiyin here so that the child could meet more people. Grandma believes that when children are learning to speak, they should go to places with many people, even if they don't talk to others. Just listen to other people talking, and the child will gradually learn to talk a lot in such lively places. In the future, she won't be afraid of strangers. Otherwise, if she stays at home with her three grandmothers, she will be afraid of strangers when she goes out.

Pei Yin sat obediently on the little stool, watching her grandmother sew. When someone tried to talk to her, she would smile at them. Imagine, a chubby little girl, white and fair like a porcelain doll, with two little braids in her hair, smiling sweetly at you. Who wouldn't feel as sweet as if they had drunk honey water when they saw her? Everyone said, "This child is so obedient."

An old woman surnamed Tian from the other side of the village said to my grandma, "Sister-in-law, your family is getting more and more prosperous. Look, your youngest daughter-in-law is the most outstanding in our village and she's a worker. And your eldest daughter-in-law has become a private school teacher. She earns ten points every day and gets a salary. It's really different to have a Party Secretary as a relative by marriage."

Pei Yin felt a pang of jealousy at the sourness in his words. Indeed, Shen Shengsi was a rightist sent home for labor reform, yet his family's life has only gotten better and better. How can those whose lives have only gotten worse and those who have remained stagnant bear this?

The series of happy events in the Shen family made many villagers resentful. It was unacceptable that a rightist who had returned to his hometown for reform could live such a prosperous life. Many people were unhappy about it. They thought, "You're a rightist, you should keep a low profile and do the hardest and most tiring work. How can you live such a prosperous life? What's wrong with us saying some sour things here? If this were in another village, your family would be criticized and denounced at the village meeting every day."

Grandma gritted her teeth and didn't say anything. She knew her own family's situation best. Her eldest son was still labeled a rightist, so it was better to avoid trouble.

One of Tian Lingling's aunts, the one who brought her there on the day the cabinet was installed, objected, saying, "Shenggen's family, you can't say that. Look at Sister-in-law Shen, how well she has raised her children over the years. They are all well-educated and polite. Look at Shen Shengsi, although he was labeled a rightist, he always did the hardest work. His children, all around ten years old, went to work with our production team. They never slacked off. It's Lingling's good fortune to be able to marry into the Shen family."

Grandma Shengquan whispered to Grandma, "Don't pay attention to her. Shenggen's eldest son wanted to become a private school teacher after graduating from junior high school, but he didn't get the job, and the family is upset about it."

Pei Yin nodded, no doubt about it; this was a sign of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

When Tian Shenggen's wife saw that Tian's uncles and aunts had all spoken up, even though they all shared the same surname and were from the same generation, there were still differences in their families' relationships. Since her own family was not as close as Tian's uncles and aunts, she didn't say anything more.

Grandma ignored those who were making sarcastic remarks, but Pei-yin knew that Grandma was very angry. Being gossiped about is a very upsetting thing, especially for someone like Grandma who values ​​her integrity and family traditions.

Grandma from the whole family said, "Auntie, don't be angry. It's not worth it. Besides, everyone in our village knows how eloquent Tian Shenggen is."

Grandma said, "Sister-in-law, you know our family best. All these years, I've only wanted the family to have a good atmosphere so that my children can find good wives and good husbands. I avoid anything that might be gossiped about. We don't need to be extremely wealthy, but we need to have a harmonious and happy family. Everyone in the village should say that we are a harmonious family. I'm just afraid that when my children are looking for partners, people will come to the village to inquire and say some bad things. But if they don't do well themselves, why should they talk about our family?"

Seeing her grandmother looking sad, Pei-yin patted her grandmother's hand with her little hand and said, "Ignore her, ignore her."

Grandma from the whole family laughed and said, "Look at you, you're not as easygoing as a little kid. If you cared about everything people said, you'd be exhausted."

Grandma hugged Peiyin and stroked her soft hair, saying, "Yes, Peiyin is right. Grandma will listen to Peiyin."

When Peiyin overheard her parents talking at night, she learned that many people were gossiping about her mother's job as a private teacher at a school. They were saying that it was hard to believe that a relative of a rightist could do such an important job as a teacher.

From what I heard from my mother, she didn't want to go anymore. Not only some people in the village, but even some teachers at the school said that her family was a rightist's family member and that they were being reformed. They said that some things in the office were pushed onto her to do. Being treated like this every day must be quite stressful for her.

Mr. Shen said, "Yueran, the decision to send you to the school as a private teacher was made by the village leaders. If anyone has any objections, let them go to the village and talk to the village leaders. As for you, just do your job well and don't think about anything else."

After thinking for a while, Shen's mother didn't say anything more. Pei Yin thought that everything should be fine now. She figured that if everyone talked for a few more days, her mother would probably calm down once there was some new gossip.

Who knew that just a few days later, something happened to Shen's mother.

That morning, as usual, after breakfast, the Shen family members went to work or school. Pei Yin and her grandmother carried their small stools to the big locust tree to listen to gossip.

Not long after I sat down, I saw a boy, about half a year old, running over from the school. He was in a hurry and panting heavily. When he reached the big locust tree, he didn't respond when someone called him. He rushed towards the barefoot doctor's small clinic not far away like a gust of wind.

An old woman said, "Why is this child running so fast?"

Pei Yin watched as the boy, barely a few moments after entering the clinic, grabbed Dr. Wang, the barefoot doctor carrying a medical kit with a red cross on his back, and ran back. Dr. Wang seemed quite flustered when he came out; the clinic door wasn't even locked.

This barefoot doctor was the son-in-law of a family surnamed Tian in the village. His surname was Wang, and he was in his forties. Because the child of this family, who was also Dr. Wang's brother-in-law, had been in the army for many years, after liberation, Dr. Wang's brother-in-law stayed in the army and did not return. In addition, Dr. Wang's own family had many children, so after discussing it, the two families decided that Dr. Wang and his wife would settle down in Shenjia Village to take care of his wife's parents. Dr. Wang had been an apprentice at a pharmacy since he was a teenager. After coming to Shenjia Village, he resumed his old profession and opened a clinic in Shenjia Village, becoming the village's barefoot doctor. Dr. Wang had a very good temper. He would readily go to make house calls whenever anyone asked him to. Even when he encountered difficult patients, he was never heard to get angry. He was always gentle and kind.

Dr. Wang was being pulled by a child as they ran towards the school. Passing by the big locust tree, he saw Pei Yin and her grandmother there. He stopped to catch his breath and said to the grandmother, "Sister-in-law, your wife Sheng Si was hit on the head at school. I'm going to check on her. You should quickly find someone to go to the fields and call Sheng Si back."

Grandma became anxious upon hearing this and hurriedly asked, "Dr. Wang, is Peihua's mother's injury serious?"

Dr. Wang said, "This child came to call me; your family should go and see him."

Before she could finish speaking, the boy grabbed her and ran off.

Grandma quickly said to the other grandma sitting next to her, "Sister-in-law, could you go to the field and call Peihua's father back? I need to go check on Peihua's mother right away."

The old lady said, "Okay, okay, you hurry up and go to school. I'll go to the field to call someone for you." After saying that, she didn't care about sitting on the little stool anymore, stood up, and ran to the field on her little feet.

Grandma stood up and swayed, which startled Pei Yin. Grandma was already over sixty and couldn't take any frights.

Pei-yin held her grandmother's hand and called out, "Grandma, Grandma!"

Grandma stood up and steadied herself, saying, "Grandma can't fall down. Grandma is still holding my precious grandson's hand. Come on, let's go see what's wrong with your mother."

Grandma's bound feet meant she couldn't walk very fast, but Pei-yin, with her short legs, could catch up with her in a few quick steps. The two of them, supporting each other, walked towards the school at the north end of the village.

Pei Yin was very nervous. If her mother's injury wasn't serious, she could have come to Dr. Wang's clinic to get it bandaged herself. Why would someone have to come and fetch Dr. Wang? And judging from the way that boy looked, all flustered and anxious, her mother's injury must have been quite severe.

Even though the sun was shining in October, the weather was still a bit chilly. Pei Yin was wearing a thin, open-crotch cotton onesie made by her grandmother. She wore a small sweater on top and a corduroy overcoat. She was already sweating profusely before she had run halfway. Looking up at her grandmother, she saw beads of sweat rolling down her face. She guessed that most of the sweat was from her grandmother's anxiety.

Grandma held Pei-yin's little hand with one hand, while swinging her other hand in a wide arc to balance herself and prevent herself from falling. Seeing that Pei-yin was walking slowly, Grandma thought of picking her up, but Pei-yin shook her head, held Grandma's hand, and continued walking forward. As they walked, Pei-yin felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Zu Xun and his companion stumbled and fell on their way to school. Many years later, Pei Yin still remembered the old figure leading the small one. They almost fell several times along the way, and their helplessness could only turn into tears that slowly streamed down their cheeks. After wiping them away, they had to keep going.